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Welding
I've got a welder, and I'm not afraid to use it.
Pictures of the back steps steel railing.
Miller/Hobart XL Helmet, #770186
The rechargeable battery failed, so the helmet won't darken. The battery is not
replaceable and the lens is not a standard size. A new auto-dark lens costs as
much as a new helmet, but I can't bear to throw away a perfectly good hood. Two
choices: Replace the lens with a fixed-shade glass, or repair the auto-dark lens
with a new battery.
- Replace auto-dark lens with a 4x5 (4.5" x 5.25" actually) fixed plastic
lens cut down to size. Shade 10 works for my purposes. I did it, and it works
great. It's extremely light weight and has a big window. The negative is that
I lost my auto-dark, which is a bummer. The up-side is that I've got a working
helmet now, so I can weld again while I try to repair the auto-dark
lens.
- I'm also going to try to repair the auto-dark lens. Get to the battery by
breaking open the black case. The case is lightly welded together every
half-inch or so. Just find a weak spot along the seam and work both ways,
twisting a screwdriver to break the welds. The battery, a 3-volt Lithium
Panasonic VL2330, is soldered in. A new VL2330 should come with the tabs
already spot-welded on. Re-solder in a new battery, or use a small needle nose
pliers to break the tabs and solder in a remote battery holder.
BTW, the new XLi helmet has a replaceable battery. Talking to the
manufacturer, it sounds like the XL was a failure, and was replaced with the XLi. The problem I had, a
prematurely dead battery, was/is very common. Of course, mine failed just outside
the 18-month warranty period.
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